1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a conference system comprising at least two mobile terminals, each having a signal-transmitting device and an associated signaling method.
2. Background of the Related Art
In the current state of the art, mobile terminals used for interpersonal communication, such as mobile phones, smart phones, PDAs, tablet PCs and laptops, are operated in various ways. User input can be entered via keyboard, input devices, voice control, computer or by other means. Also known is control of device functions via movements of an input device, such as a finger on a touch-sensitive user interface. It also possible to move the terminal in order to affect the display mode of the mobile terminal, for example, from a portrait display format to a landscape format; see, for example: Apple iPhone. However, the current control and input devices and methods in connection with mobile terminals used for interpersonal communication have the disadvantage that they are not accessible to interpersonal nonverbal communication gestures for control or input purposes. Such interpersonal nonverbal communication gestures, in particular non-specific types of gestures, remain inaccessible to mobile communication terminals at the current state of the art.
WO 2006/107463 A 1 discloses a method and a device for visual presentation, which determines and displays communication attributes stemming from a voice connection to a communication device. In addition, WO 2008/138407 A 1 discloses a mobile terminal with a WLAN transceiver and a motion sensor, whereby a multimedia object is generated by the detected motion.
In today's professional life, e.g., in the industry, increasingly telephone and video conferences are conducted for joint voting or for efficient and timely dissemination of information. It is definitely possible for conference calls to reach a larger number of participants, e.g., 10 or 20 participants and in larger companies possibly even many more.
Conference systems, so-called conference bridges, allow for different modes of operation; e.g., all participants can communicate bi-directionally, i.e., speak at the same time as well as hear all other participants. It is possible for participants to bring in interfering ambient noise, which significantly disturbs the quality of the conference acoustics. Therefore, employing the mode known as a moderated conference can be useful, i.e., moderators can mute or unmute participants.
The moderator has an overview of all participants and can execute this function via a control application that is connected to the conference system; in other words, he can give somebody the floor. To be able to speak, the participant must then call the moderator on an additional phone, e.g., on the moderator's mobile phone, in order to indicate that he would like to be unmuted and be able to speak in the conference.